Health Sciences In The Media

The month of October is when young rattle snakes go looking to hibernate in places where homeowners might not want them. These calls have not coincided with an increase in the number of people getting bitten by snakes, according to the UArizona Poison and Drug Information Center, which collects such data for all of Arizona except for Maricopa County. As of October 6, 146 bites had been reported statewide. That’s down from 162 at this time in 2020.

Deepta Bhattacharya, PhD, an immunologist at the College of Medicine – Tucson, who was not involved in the study, says the results are "very encouraging" and provide evidence of "improved real world protection" from delaying second doses.

Indigenous children also suffer unique challenges compounding the deaths, said Hopi tribe member Felina Cordova-Marks, DrPH, MPH, an assistant professor at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health. “The loss of a caregiver will definitely impact mental health and all aspects of health among American Indian children, as it may compound historical trauma. As Native Indigenous people, we look at health holistically with a loss of life and loss of culture affecting all of these,” said Dr. Cordova-Marks, who founded the Southern Arizona Urban Native Indigenous COVID Relief program.

City officials spoke today about the lasting impact that our school buses have on students’ health. They're pushing for state representatives to do something about it. According to the American Lung Association, Tucson’s air quality is among the worst in the nation. “Arizona and Tucson rank particularly poorly when it comes to poor air quality,” said Lynn Gerald, PhD, MSPH, a professor of public health at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health.

As part of its 2022 Best Colleges list, U.S. News & World Report for the first time ranked undergraduate nursing bachelor’s degrees on the Best Bachelor of Science in Nursing Programs list, and the UArizona College of Nursing excelled in several categories. Out of 694 schools, the College of Nursing’s BSN program ranked No. 23 overall, No. 16 among public universities and No. 1 in Arizona.

Paleoanthropologists have wondered for a long time how and why humans evolved molars that emerge into the mouth at the ages of six, 12, and 18 and why those ages are so delayed compared to living apes. A study by scientists at the University of Arizona and Arizona State University that may finally cracked the case. "One of the mysteries of human biological development is how the precise synchrony between molar emergence and life history came about and how it is regulated," said lead author Halszka Glowacka, PhD, assistant professor and co-director of the clinical anatomy program at the College of Medicine – Phoenix.

A new study helps quantify the improved protection against COVID-19 achieved with a third booster dose of the vaccine from Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE in cancer patients who are undergoing chemotherapy. “Chemotherapy can weaken the ability of cancer patients to fight off infections and to respond appropriately to vaccines,” said Deepta Bhattacharya, PhD, and immunologist at the College of Medicine – Tucson and co-author of the study reported in Nature Medicine.

University of Arizona scientists are examining ways to make opioids safer and creating better solutions for pain management. John Streicher, PhD, a member of the Comprehensive Pain and Addiction Center and associate professor of pharmacology in the College of Medicine – Tucson, is interviewed.

Medical experts continue to emphasize the importance of getting the COVID vaccine and now the flu shot as the United States approaches an unpredictable flu season and potential “twindemic.” Saman Nematollahi, MD, assistant professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases at the College of Medicine – Tucson, is interviewed.

If you've got blue nails and it's not from nail polish, you likely have what's called cyanosis. This is when all the fingernails or toes are tinged blue. Cyanosis of the nail bed is caused by low oxygen levels in the blood. If the blue color isn't just from frigid temperatures, "your physician will probably want to do a simple rapid-blood gas analysis to measure the oxygen in your blood and perhaps some tests to check your heart and lungs," said Andrew Weil, MD, director of the UArizona Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine.